Agents learning to cater to needs of investors

Greg Rand used to be like any other real estate agent. He was the managing partner at a family brokerage, Better Homes and Gardens Rand Realty, in New York's Hudson Valley. Occasionally, he dabbled in commercial real estate. Bouncing between residential and commercial real estate, Rand came to the conclusion there was an in-between market -- a single-family home as an investment, not a shelter -- that wasn't being addressed by the residential brokerage community. Commercial real estate investors typically shun single-family homes. And single-family residential buyers think mainly in terms of finding a good place to live. But there was another group out there buying single-family homes as investments.Rand concluded residential brokerages weren't very good at serving these buyers. &q...